Ok first of all, sweetdbt the answer is probably "no", no offense, it's just that there's a pretty short list of people that can use my jacuzzi and you're not on it. You'll need to talk to my wife if you have any issues with that, she is the keeper of the list.
About the neighborhood, etc. I could probably write a long faq about renting properties in the DR, since this is my 5th residential rental and I also have 3 commercial rentals under my belt by now.
For now, here is the short version:
1) Rent in whatever currency your income is in, you don't want a fixed expense that is an unknown percentage of your income. And if it's dollars then keep in mind you may be paying well above the going rate in the near future.
2) 3 month downpayment is standard, but only 2 of those months are actually a deposit. The other is commission for whoever showed you the house. This is normal. Annoying, (in what business does the customer pay a sales commission to the salesperson?) but normal.
3) Check out the neighborhood you intend to move to at night on a weekend, hopefully a couple of times. This is the is the only way you will know how noisy it is. Technically it is illegal to make alot of noise after 11, but you never know how big of a jerk your neighbor is until you see him party.
4) When it's time to move out, stop paying rent for the last couple of months and tell the landlord you are living out your deposits. This is the only way you can be sure you are getting it back.
5) require proof that the utilities are paid up to date and that there are no ongoing disputes with either the power company of the water service (a glance at the last couple of bills should do it) If your landlord can not come up with these then you should get suspicious and be prepared to walk away.
6) It is normal to be charged a maintenance fee in an apartment building, but not in a house. This will be more expensive in a case where it covers things like security guards, generators, elevator maintenance, lighting for public areas etc. If you are promised services like full-time planta for a fixed monthly fee, keep in mind this is subject to change without notice, there is no way the maintenance folks are going to take a loss if the price of fuel goes higher than what they are collecting, also if the planta breaks down there is no way they are going to fork over any serious money for repairs and of course if the other tennants get behind on their maintenance payments then the generator will most likely be shut off, you may or may not be required to continue paying the same amount. In general it is better to come up with your own backup power solution, since being dependant on cooperation from people who would rather do without than pay up is going to go badly for you.
7) Last but not least, house hunting can be very frustrating. You will most likely be tempted to strangle the person showing you houses. (can I use your phone, can we pick up my sister, can we drop my kid off at school, let's just wait another 3 hours for the gardener to show up with the key, thanks for driving across town to pick me up, now let's drive back across town again in rush hour traffic to ge the key) At the very least you will want to say mean things to them. This is never as satisfying as you would like and absolutely never productive. Generally in this country people think nothing of wasting your time. The only thing you can do about it is waste some of theirs, but they are so friendly they will most likely enjoy this. So be patient, don't allow yourself to get rushed or pressured when it comes to housing, this is stressful enough without any extra pressure. Take it easy.